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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356377">Unlikely Allies</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potkanka/pseuds/Potkanka'>Potkanka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tombvember 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tomb Raider (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, some violence but nothing too graphic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:28:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,680</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27356377</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potkanka/pseuds/Potkanka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kristina Boaz would like to get out of the Sanitarium before the newly freed Proto-Nephilim finds her and mauls her to death. Her colleagues and guards are dead but - she meets a stranger with a goal to turn the power back on. And he could use some directions.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tombvember 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995154</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'll post the rest tomorrow, so this one will be two-chaptered :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kristina let out a shaky breath. The screaming had finally stopped. She was used to screams, even very similar screams, but those were ordinarily carrying no danger that she might be joining in. When she and her colleagues were conducting experiments, everything was under control. But this… had been an absolute chaos.</p><p>She slowly raised her head to peer over the overturned filing cabinet she was hiding behind. There was some blood on the floor, most of it coming from around a desk, where she was sure she would find Doctor Schneider. Papers were strew around, knocked over during the fight.</p><p>Well, not fight. A fight would mean both sides had a chance. The door was gaping open, left there as the assistants had run for their lives. Kristina had no doubt that they were dead now, but at least their escape lured away the Proto-Nephilim, saving her own life in the process.</p><p>Good. They were quite competent assistants till the very end.</p><p>She finally rose to her feet. Her knees felt weak but she held herself up. She couldn’t stay here, if the Proto returned, there would be no-one to create a convenient diversion again. She needed to – well, she needed to get out of the sanitarium at the very least. She <em>should</em><span> have been up there, actually, meeting with the accounting department. But she had fallen asleep during her late lunch break and woke up to panicked rustles of her colleagues, learning that there had been a power outage.</span></p><p>And there was still no power, even now, so she couldn’t use the elevator. There were other ways… Other ways, which, if found by the Proto, spelled doom for most everyone in the fortress.</p><p><span>Kristina clamped down on the sudden surge of fear. Master Eck</span><span>h</span><span>ardt would be </span><em>merciless</em><span> when he found out. If only she </span><span>had been</span> <span>outside</span><span>, learning about this emergency </span><span>from the security – some </span><span>would</span><span> have had </span><span>escaped to bring her the information</span><span>. </span><span>T</span><span>hey answered to her, not Gunderson, </span><span>so h</span><span>e wouldn’t know yet. </span><span>This extended the time until some help would come considerably.</span></p><p>
  <em>She</em>
  <span> was the one with the information. And if she was up there right now, she could have brought the news to Master Eckhardt, who would be furious, but… but able to do something with it!</span>
</p><p>But instead, she was down here, maybe mere minutes from being mauled to death by her own creation.</p><p>
  <span>She walked towards the door, her heels clicking unpleasantly loud on the tiles. Outside in the hallway it was darker than in the office, but the emergency lights still offered enough visibility throughout. </span>
  <span>The bodies of the assistants </span>
  <span>lay</span>
  <span> only a few met</span>
  <span>e</span>
  <span>rs ahead. At least from the number of limbs strewn around, she assumed it was the two of them. If it wa</span>
  <span>s</span>
  <span> someone else – well, she wasn’t staying around to identify the bodies. </span>
  <span>She walked on, in the direction of the nearest emergency exit. Sadly, “nearest” didn’t mean near at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Passing rows of cells </span>
  <span>while avoiding slipping on blood and entrails</span>
  <span>, she </span>
  <span>wasn’t surprise</span>
  <span>d</span>
  <span> there were no noises coming from </span>
  <span>behind the doors</span>
  <span>. The test subjects shouldn’t be able to move for at least a day yet. Someone should have checked up on them soon – well, if everything was going normal, </span>
  <span>someone would</span>
  <span>. The fact that she could lose a whole batch of specimen due to neglect rankled her, this experiment was a </span>
  <em>long-term</em>
  <span> one, with a strict schedule, but for now she had to focus on surviving, so she </span>
  <span>would</span>
  <span> even had a chance to ever continue her research.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She reached the first locked door with a keypad on the side. The power was out, </span>
  <span>but the keypads should have their own emergency power supply for exactly these occasions. The only reason her fingers weren’t shaking when she punched in the code was her long surgical practice.</span>
</p><p>The door hissed open. She let the relief wash over her before anxiety gripped her insides again. She listened carefully before going in. There was some buzzing, dripping and faint shuffling. Not the Proto, she didn’t think. It usually didn’t go long without growls and gruff panting. But the shuffling – those were certainly inmates. Unless they swarmed her, she should be able to avoid them. They might not even pay her any attention, they were a little unpredictable in that. She could even outrun them, but she would prefer not to enter any further places hastily.</p><p>Especially as there could be other inmates waiting. Those from another batch, the faster ones. More aggressive ones.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, she crept forward.</p><p>Three inmates were prowling the wide hallway, ignoring her. Good. That was… very good. If the Proto appeared now there was a seventy-five percent chance it would target one of them.</p><p>She walked on slowly, steadily, peered around a corner-</p><p>She gasped and stumbled back, only by a miracle not falling on her backside. The man staring back at her, a gun aimed between her eyes, had his own surprise painted all over his face. But he didn’t shoot. Instead, warily, he lowered the weapon.</p><p>Kristina’s heart was beating too fast and so hard he must have been hearing it too. Trying to get herself under control, she breathed in and out deeply while looking him over. A shirt and trousers, not a uniform, a little scruffy but holding himself with confidence. An unexpected sight, even without the scare he’d given her by appearing out of nowhere.</p><p>“Who are you?” she asked with genuine confusion and not a little wariness.</p><p>He was frowning at her, but then his expression lightened a little and he smirked. “The clean-up crew, I guess. What the hell happened here?”</p><p>That didn’t make any sense. If he was a special agent sent by Gunderson – he had all kinds of people under his employ – then he would know at least something before coming down here, right?</p><p>“If you don’t know, what would you be looking for to clean up?” Kristina’s uneasiness was rising now, with this new unknown variable.</p><p>The man shrugged. “I’m actually here to turn the power back on. Didn’t expect all the dead bodies though.” He looked her up and down and amended: “At least not in the hallways.”</p><p>If he was just here to restore the power, why would he be armed but without the knowledge of what was awaiting him? Despite the experiments conducted here, the sanitarium itself was a fairly safe place most of the time. It wasn’t adding up.</p><p>“Who sent you here?”</p><p>“Not important,” he deflected. “Do you know where the electrical room is?”</p><p>On the other hand, could he make this any worse? They couldn’t stay here for long, and if he was going to protect himself from the Proto, futile as it would ultimately be, he could give her a chance to get away. And if it was an intruder, trying to sabotage the Cabal’s operations? There wasn’t much to sabotage here, not more than this clusterfuck was currently going.</p><p>At worst, he would kill her. But he hadn’t done it when he first had the chance, so clearly she wasn’t the target. Or he was hoping to interrogate her first. Wouldn’t he prefer to get them out of there then, rather than looking for the circuit breaks? The dead bodies strewn around should have already told him he was in mortal danger as long as he stayed here.</p><p>She had been having a fairly good day until noon. And now she could as well be choosing if she would prefer to be killed by her experiment, her superior or a stranger with a gun. She was a scientist! A doctor! Gunderson was the one dealing with death-defying military operations.</p><p>For now, her best bet was to answer this stranger. Denying the answer wouldn’t help either of them, and if he <em>was</em><span> able to turn the power back on… well, that would be one step forward to repairing all this.</span></p><p>
  <span>Although she had a sinking feeling Master Eckhardt wouldn’t spare her life by now, no matter how she handled the situation. If only she could kill the Proto – but that was impossible, of course. She had known from the beginning. But her polite hints as to the necessity of the Shard had been cut off so sharply, she hadn’t dared to ask again. She had simply hoped the Proto could be held indefinitely. The best – the </span>
  <em>only</em>
  <span> – course of action in her situation.</span>
</p><p>“<span>I know where it is,” she said at last. “I can take you there.” </span><span>Not giving him directions, t</span><span>hus eliminating the possibility of being killed right then and there, in case this was the only relevant piece of information he needed from her.</span></p><p>“Yeah I can get there alone, just tell me the way,” the man sighed impatiently.</p><p>“I know all the door codes, it will be faster this way,” Kristina bargained.</p><p>The frown was really frustrated and unhappy – unprofessional, or just overconfident, to show off his emotions like that, Gunderson didn’t suffer such expressions in his ranks – but he didn’t say no outright.</p><p>“Fuck, I’m gonna so regret this,” he murmured then and Kristina knew she had won. For now. The man was still too much of a mystery to feel any way at ease around him.</p><p>She nodded sharply. “This way then,” she moved to her left. “Do not mind these inmates, they are harmless,” she pointed towards a pair prowling a little away. “Watch out for the faster ones, they are aggressive and will most probably attack.”</p><p>“Yeah, I’ve already met those,” the man said. “But you still didn’t answer me. What happened? It can’t be just the inmates partying in the hallways due to blackout.”</p><p>
  <span>Kristina glanced at him, he was studying their surroundings while walking, the gun back in its holster, but his hand hovering nearby. </span>
  <span>She would have felt safer if he was still holding onto it. After all, it did seem like he wasn’t planning on killing her right now, so he could just be prepared for other things trying to kill them both.</span>
</p><p>He appeared… competent. He surely must have had some combat experience, even if his demeanor was rather casual. Sadly, that wouldn’t help against the Proto.</p><p>“<span>The most</span><span> dangerous experiment </span><span>held </span><span>in </span><span>here</span><span> had gotten out,” she finally revealed. “It killed most of the staff by now, I’m sure. It...” she didn’t want to scare off the man, not now </span><span>when</span><span> he was possibly helping her survive, but he had to know. “...it cannot be killed. We need to avoid it at all costs, or it will tear us apart.”</span></p><p>“Ugh, sounds fun,” the man griped. “Though I doubt it can’t be killed. Everything can be killed, or else you just didn’t figure out the way yet.”</p><p>It sounded like he was speaking from experience, which both reassured and deeply troubled her. Who, the hell, was this man?</p><p><span>His self-confidence was also irritating her a little bit. </span><span>He had no idea what he was talking about, not when it came to the Proto.</span><span> “Very well,” she amended </span><span>impatiently</span><span>. “It can be killed. By </span><span>a</span> <span>particular</span><span>, impossibly rare weapon, which I do not have. Therefore we may as well call it </span><span>unkillable</span><span>.”</span></p><p>“<span>See, now we’re getting somewhere,” the man overtook her and glanced around a corner before nodding at her that it was safe, after which she took the lead again, “a rare weapon. </span><span>Any specifics?”</span></p><p>“You can’t imitate it, it wouldn’t work,” Kristina scoffed. At least as far as she was aware. She wasn’t permitted to study the Shard, not that she was sure she would be able to understand it anyway. Unless it happened to be made of flesh.</p><p>“No harm in asking,” the man shrugged. “So? What is it?”</p><p>
  <span>Kristina sighed. Maybe he would drop it if she told him </span>
  <span>what she knew</span>
  <span>. “It has a </span>
  <span>knife</span>
  <span>-like shape, I assume it is used by stabbing. It is made of at least two kinds of </span>
  <span>material, </span>
  <span>mineral or possibly metal, </span>
  <span>but I cannot rule out organic matter either</span>
  <span>. I have only seen it once, never held it in my hands. Even if there was a way to fake it, we don’t have enough information.”</span>
</p><p>“<span>Hmm,” the man was thinking it over. Oh no, why was he still continuing this </span><span>t</span><span>rack of thought? They descended a short flight of stairs, arriving at a door with a keypad.</span></p><p>“So why would stabbing the creature with that thing be any different than stabbing it with something else?” Kristina hid her irritation by turning to the keypad and punching in the code.</p><p>“I don’t know,” she hissed, not willing to talk too loud in a new area. “But nothing else certainly worked when we tried.”</p><p>
  <span>The man swept their surroundings with his eyes. The</span>
  <span>n</span>
  <span> grunts </span>
  <span>came </span>
  <span>from the right and before Kristina could react, he shot at the attacker. An inmate, waving his hands to use the straps as whips, was running towards them, but a few more shots downed him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She breathed a sigh of relief, but the man looked unconcerned. “Okay, </span>
  <span>how do you even know this thing would work </span>
  <span>the creature </span>
  <span>if you never had it</span>
  <span>? What is it you’</span>
  <span>ve</span>
  <span> created </span>
  <span>here</span>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, there was only so far she was willing to go </span>
  <span>with this</span>
  <span>, and telling strangers about the Nephilim was beyond that line. “That is certainly none of your concern.”</span>
</p><p>“<span>Yeah it kinda </span><em>is</em><span> my concern if I can expect it to try </span><span>and</span><span> kill me right here. What about the weapon then? Any chance of getting our hands on the real deal?”</span></p><p>
  <span>This conversation was leading nowhere yet he couldn’t let it go. Kristina assumed her mo</span>
  <span>st</span>
  <span> sarcastic tone: “Of course, because Periapt Shards just grow on trees around here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man stopped so abruptly Kristina startled and began looking around for danger. When she couldn’t see anything, she turned back to him, and he was watching her with wide eyes, </span>
  <span>as if his worst fears had just been confirmed.</span>
</p><p>“<em>What</em><span> did you create?” he asked </span><span>again, </span><span>in a low, dangerous voice.</span></p><p>Kristina took a step back. “That is none-”</p><p>
  <span>He grabbed her by her shoulders, </span>
  <span>tight enough </span>
  <span>to</span>
  <span> hurt</span>
  <span>. “What is it? </span>
  <span>I know you’re trying to bring back the Nephilim, so tell me!</span>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>“<span>How-” she gasped, but couldn’t go further. </span><span>Maybe… maybe that was good. However he’d learned of the tightly kept secret, it meant she wouldn’t be revealing it herself. And if explaining the Proto to him made them only a slightly bit safe</span><span>r</span><span>, if only because he would take the threat seriously – which he just might have, judging by his reaction…</span></p><p>
  <span>She swallowed. “It’s… it’s a Proto-Nephilim. There is </span>
  <span>only about fifty percent</span>
  <span> Nephilim DNA in it, but that still makes it impossible to kill.”</span>
</p><p>The man was watching her intently just two seconds longer. “Fuck,” he finally breathed out and let go of her. “And the rest of the DNA?”</p><p>“Several animal species. Canines and primates.”</p><p>“<span>So something quick and agile,” his sight was turned to the floor, thoughts running quickly through his head </span><span>judging </span><span>by the pinched expression. Finally he looked up. “Alright, it will be a pain in the ass, but I’</span><span>ve killed nasty critters before</span><span>.”</span></p><p>
  <span>Kristina couldn’t believe her ears. She watched him wal</span>
  <span>k</span>
  <span>ing past her with her mouth open. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?” she asked his retreating back, aware her voice sounded slightly shrill. “It’s a </span>
  <span>half-Nephilim! That makes it impossible to kill without </span>
  <span>a </span>
  <span>Periapt Shard!”</span>
</p><p>“You mean something like this?” he pulled and object out of his pouch and held it up high.</p><p>Kristina could only stare in mute astonishment. There was no end to surprises today and she didn’t know how much more she could take. That… that was impossible!</p><p>Despite her denial, there was something warm growing in her chest. The beginning of hope.</p><p>“A Periapt Shard...” she whispered.</p><p>“Yeah,” the man glanced back at her with a frown, but then he smirked. “Now I just gotta stab your pet with it before it eats us.”</p><p>
  <span>The warmth in her body grew cold again. Yes. The Shard wasn’t enough. The Proto was loose in the facility, </span>
  <span>not safely hidden in the containment area where it would’ve been easy to kill once and for all. But the confidence in the man’s eyes prompted her to contemplate a slight sliver of hope nonetheless:</span>
</p><p>“And you truly think you can do it?”</p><p>“Sure. Probably,” the man stashed the Shard back to its hiding place.</p><p>“Probably?” Kristina repeated weakly but finally followed him.</p><p>“Nothing’s really for sure, but I have better chances than anyone around here,” he walked up a few steps and tried to open a door made of metal bars. It didn’t budge. He tried again, a little stronger.</p><p>Kristina couldn’t see a keypad or a card reader anywhere, and started to worry they would need to turn around and take another way. That would make their stay down here considerably longer, and no matter how confident and conveniently armed the man was, she would prefer to be out and rid of him. Safe from everything around here including him, because… he clearly wasn’t working for the Cabal. But he had knowledge he shouldn’t have. That made him extremely dangerous. Did he know who she was?</p><p>She still didn’t know who he was.</p><p>“Who are you?” she tried again, watching him inspect the locking mechanism. It was now clear even from her position that the metal had been warped in an unnatural way, keeping the door jammed shut.</p><p>
  <span>He huffed out a laugh. “What, you still haven’t figured it out?” </span>
  <span>he took several steps back, as if making a run-up. Was he going to try to knock down the </span>
  <em>metal</em>
  <span> door?</span>
</p><p>“Figured out? What do you mean?” she watched him warily. If he could throw his body against the metal bars and not cause himself more damage than to the door, she was going to assume his body wasn’t made of flesh at all.</p><p>But instead of preparing for a run, he… lifted one arm. Turned his open palm forward. His eyes narrowed in concentration.</p><p>Oh.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It… it couldn’t… be. Could it?</p><p>
  <span>He </span>
  <em>pushed</em>
  <span>, seemingly thin air, but the door two meters in front of hi</span>
  <span>m</span>
  <span> gave out a groan and pried itself open violently.</span>
</p><p>It all made sense, didn’t it? The knowledge, the Periapt Shard…</p><p>“Lux Veritatis,” Kristina said, feeling as if she was pronouncing her own death sentence.</p><p>He turned to her in a faux-innocent manner. “What gave it away?” Then he walked through the door.</p><p>She should run. She should be running for the hills right this very moment. But there was still the Proto on the loose and this was still the fastest way out – and to the electrical room. Feeling as reckless as the most foolish of Gunderson’s men who killed themselves on their very first mission, she hurried to follow the Cabal’s worst enemy. “Why are you helping me?” she asked. If she was throwing caution into the wind in an attempt to survive, she might as well go all the way through. “You know who I am, don’t you?”</p><p>He threw her a critical look. “Doctor Kristina Boaz, one of the Cabal’s inner circle.” There was disgust shining in his eyes. “You run this place. You should know your way around.”</p><p>She breathed out slowly. She couldn’t panic now, there was still danger about. “And after I am no longer useful as your guide?”</p><p>She should kill him. Somehow, impossibly, she should. She had screwed up so much, this could be the only way to stave off some of Master Eckhardt’s ire.</p><p>“I won’t kill you,” he said, the intense stare lessening, “even if it’s the least you deserve.”</p><p>How naïve. No wonder the Lux Veritatis were a dying breed. “You… won’t.”</p><p>“Nah. Not unless you gonna attack me first and give me a reason.” He looked her over as if searching for hidden weapons. Right. The most dangerous thing she carried on her were probably her keys. Or her heels.</p><p>“Besides,” he shrugged, but that sounded darkly amused and she tense waiting for his next words. “Eckhardt’s not gonna be happy about this, will he? Heard he’s kinda a mean boss.”</p><p>Kristina’s breath caught in her throat. Hearing it from someone else’s mouth only made it more real.</p><p>But what could she do? This man was a trained warrior with psychic powers, and she was a sleep deprived psychiatrist. She was also fairly sure he didn’t want to tear her to pieces and devour her, unlike the experiment prowling the hallways at this very moment.</p><p>Her best course of action for surviving as long as possible was to follow the Lux Veritatis for now. And then… if she was lucky enough, he and the Proto would kill each other. Her eyes widened at that. Yes, that would be ideal. She could say she had sent the Proto after him deliberately and that it completed its mission. No-one would ever have to know the truth.</p><p>“Master Eckhardt will understand once I explain the matters to him.” Or at least the matters she wanted him to believe.</p><p>They were walking side by side now and the man threw her a disbelieving look. “Really?”</p><p>He was calling her as naïve as she had been him in her mind a minute ago. But she had a plan. Well, no, a hope. That both he and the Proto would die. And in case of the other outcomes? If the Proto won, she would be dead and there was no more to it, unless she would somehow manage to make her escape while it was mauling the Lux Veritatis.</p><p>And if the man won? Well, that would save her for the moment but a short investigation would reveal the Proto. The… dead Proto. Which had previously been alive and there would be at least some survivors to confirm it, such as those who weren’t at work today. And what had been previously preventing her from killing it would suddenly had been mysteriously bypassed. And she couldn’t claim spontaneous death after all the carnage. Or could she? Death by exhaustion? It sounded like a weak excuse. And if it became clear that <em>someone </em><span>had come and killed it… </span><span>and that this </span><span>someone </span><span>was </span><span>still alive and therefore a danger to </span><span>Master </span><span>Eckhardt’s plans… </span><span>No, t</span><span>o </span><span>Master </span><span>Eckhardt </span><em>himself</em><span>, because of the Shard. Kristina doubte</span><span>d</span><span> she could spin it as the mysterious killer dying and his body being lost, not for something so important.</span></p><p>
  <span>She was physically yanked out of her thoughts </span>
  <span>by her elbow</span>
  <span> and a whip-like strap lashed through the air where her head had been a moment before.</span>
</p><p>The man released her arm and shot the attacking inmate several times.</p><p>“T-thank you,” she stammered automatically.</p><p>“Don’t thank me yet,” he growled, turning back around. From unlocked doors on both sides of the hallway were half-shuffling, half-hopping more inmates. Four, five… six. She realized in which ward they were now. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she had completely forgotten that the doors would be unlocked this time.</p><p>The man kicked the inmate that was almost upon them, making him stumble a few steps.</p><p>“<span>Stay back!” the man gestured with his arm crossing Kristina’s path forward. He didn’t need to say that twice, she was more than happy to move </span><span>as far </span><span>away until there was a wall behind her.</span></p><p>That man reholstered his weapon.</p><p>“<span>What are you-” she started, but then he reached further down, to a metal disk hanging from his hip. She hadn’t paid it much attention before, it hardly looked dangerous. But now she watched with wide eyes as the disk sprang five wicked-sharp blades and as the man threw it towards the inmates, it lit up, drawing a golden path in the air as it cut off the heads of all six attackers in an uneven curve that shouldn’t have been possible by such a throw. Neither should have been possible how it returned to its owner, fitting into his ha</span><span>n</span><span>d, the glow fading and blades retracting.</span></p><p>A Lux Veritatis weapon, no doubt.</p><p>
  <span>She had never seen one, but she had heard bits and pieces, here and there. Seeing it in real life was much more convincing that all the synonyms for </span>
  <em>danger</em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>death</em>
  <span> used to describe it. </span>
  <span>For Master Eckhardt to be able to fight – and </span>
  <span>be </span>
  <span>winning, so far – against such power would reassure her at any other time, but now…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This man was clearly capable enough to kill the Proto. And that had left her with the worst outcome. </span>
  <span>Yes, worse than the Proto killing her, because as far as she was aware, the beast was savage but didn’t </span>
  <em>revel</em>
  <span> in pain </span>
  <span>like Master Eckhardt did</span>
  <span>. She was doomed.</span>
</p><p>“Impressed?” the man asked with a cocky smile. “Still don’t believe I can take the Proto-Nephilim?”</p><p>“<span>Wha</span><span>t</span><span> chances that you could take Master Eckhardt too?”</span></p><p>
  <span>S</span>
  <span>he froze at her own words. The man’s eyebrows rose so high they could almost touch his hairline </span>
  <span>and he gave a low long whistle. </span>
  <span>“Changed your mind about him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kristina pursed her lips, but what was said, was said. “</span>
  <span>You were right. </span>
  <span>He won’t be merciful when he hears about this. He’ll kill me.”</span>
</p><p>“Well yeah, occupational hazard. Bet it was in the contract you signed with your blood, somewhere between breeding monsters and taking over the world.”</p><p>“Taking over the world,” Kristina scoffed and rummaged in her pocket for an ID, seeing as they were nearing a door that required it. “I don’t care about that.”</p><p>He laughed out loud and it was sharp. “Yeah right. I doubt this is the kind of job you take because the pay is nice and they have a great retirement plan.”</p><p>“The pay is good,” she shrugged. Catching his look, she frowned. “I could hardly refuse unlimited funds on any research I desire, with no ethics committee breathing down my neck.”</p><p>He grimaced and glanced back at the corpses. “Ew. I hope you don’t think that’s somehow better.”</p><p>“<span>I’m a scientist,” Kristina swiped the card, “and you’re a soldier. Of course you wouldn’t understand.”</span></p><p>“I don’t think that-” he stopped, standing in the newly opened door, and Kristina heard the squelching, crunching sounds before she turned her sight the same way.</p><p>
  <span>The Proto was far, maybe fifteen meters down the hall, but that meant nothing with its speed. </span>
  <span>It hadn’t noticed them yet, focused on half </span>
  <span>an orderly it was feasting on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man crept forward noiselessly, his gun in hand. She couldn’t ask why he wasn’t holding his decidedly more dangerous weapon, the golden disc, but she had to believe he had a good reason for it. She herself, she stayed where she was. </span>
  <span>She would even backtrack if she wasn’t concerned about the click of her boots on the floor. Her eyes didn’t stray from the lethal experiment that had ruined it all for her. The only thing left for it to ruin was the continu</span>
  <span>ing existence</span>
  <span> of her life</span>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Proto whipped its head up, the glowing eyes aimed right at them. Just as Kristina took a first step back </span>
  <span>anyway</span>
  <span>, it gave a screech, its bloodied jaws opening wide.</span>
</p><p>And then it leapt.</p><p>
  <span>Kristina turned and ran, even as she heard gunshots echo in the hallway, ran to the nearest open cell and slammed the door shut. Only then she looked around. It was empty, thank god. </span>
  <span>Still breathing hard, </span>
  <span>she tried searching for a weapon, futile as anything would be against the Proto, but of course there was nothing of the sort in the cell.</span>
</p><p>A knock on the door made her jump.</p><p>“<span>Doctor? You there?” </span><span>The voice didn’t sound panicked or in death throes.</span></p><p>Kristina opened the door carefully. “Did you kill it?”</p><p>The man shook his head. “It escaped into the vents.”</p><p>
  <span>Her heart sunk, but she nodded in acknowledgment and walked out. Now was the time to ask. “Why didn’t you </span>
  <span>use your other weapon?”</span>
</p><p><span>He patted the metal disc. “</span><span>From your description, the Proto-Nephilim could move pretty quickly</span><span>. My gun makes aiming easier.” They started retreating the path towards the place the Proto had been feeding itself. “</span><span>It was</span> <span>true</span><span> too, bitch is fast.”</span></p><p>
  <span>Kristina snorted. It wasn’t funny, but this whole situation was </span>
  <span>unbelievable</span>
  <span> enough she felt excused to laugh at any give moment. </span>
  <span>Even if the laugh could sound slightly hysteric.</span>
</p><p>At the next intersection, she pointed to the left. “We are nearing the electrical room.”</p><p>“Well, that’s the easier half almost done.”</p><p>“More than anyone else has managed,” Kristina stepped over another mauled body.</p><p>“<span>Can’t blame them, </span><span>guess Nephilim </span><span>hybrids</span> <span>are more bloodthirsty than even the stuff you usually create</span><span> around here.”</span></p><p>
  <span>She could give him the info, nothing mattered </span>
  <span>by now. “Not really. There was another one, but we couldn’t even bring it to life. </span>
  <span>We hadn’t tried a third one… especially as the living one was almost too successful.”</span>
</p><p>“Can’t believe there was enough common sense left in your brain to decide to stop.”</p><p>
  <span>Kristina threw him a look. </span>
  <span>“No matter how dangerous are the subjects I work with, I do take appropriate safety measures. I am not suicidal.”</span>
</p><p>“<span>Oh I believe that,” the man peered around another corner. “</span><span>You’re sure valuing your own life more than Eckhardt’s </span><span>insane</span><span> plans.”</span></p><p>
  <span>She crossed her arms. </span>
  <span>“Yes, some of us have self-preservation instincts like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man shot a lone inmate hobbling towards them. </span>
  <span>“Doesn’t Eckhardt demand some sort of unflinching loyalty?”</span>
</p><p>“<span>He does,” Kristina shrugged, aware that what she was saying would spell her death by itself, even without the carnage around them. “And I give it to him – to his face. That is also a part of self-preservation.”<br/>The man actually grinned. “I sure don’t mind if one of his inner circle isn’t </span><span>that madly in love with</span><span> his </span><span>ideas</span><span>.”</span></p><p>“<span>I cannot say if I’m the only one...” she petered off. “</span><span>If </span><span>I</span><span> can still count m</span><span>yself</span><span> as one of them </span><span>anyway</span><span>,” Kristina muttered. “I cannot go back, not after this, not ever.” </span><span>With some frustration, she kicked a shoe with the foot still inside out of her way.</span><span> “If only I didn’t have to create the Proto… I had other experiments going on, but Eckhardt demanded I try to create an artificial Nephilim from collected DNA.”</span></p><p>“<span>So you didn’t want to do it? </span><span>And you ended up not being a fan of the result either.”</span></p><p>
  <span>Kristina </span>
  <span>huffed</span>
  <span>. An understatement, to say the least.</span>
</p><p>They arrived at a wide, roll-up door.</p><p>“We’re here. The circuit breaker should be on the far wall, right opposite the door.”</p><p>
  <span>The man nodded silently and they descended the last few steps, only to hear a growl behind them. He was shooting before she could react, </span>
  <span>hitting his target as the Proto answered with angrier growls.</span>
</p><p>“<span>Go turn back on the power!” he called at her, not letting his eyes stray from his opponent, and Kristina wasted no time. They were trapped here, with the Proto blocking the only way out. </span><span>S</span><span>he could at least try to figure something out with the power back.</span></p><p>Growling, stomping, scratching and shooting behind her didn’t make her turn and she quickly grabbed for the large lever, pulling it down with her own weight.</p><p>The generator started humming almost immediately and the lights flickered on. She turned around.</p><p>
  <span>The Proto was screeching with every missed swipe, the man avoiding him by a hair’s breadth and pelting it with bullets. That couldn’t kill the Proto, it- ah but it </span>
  <em>could</em>
  <span> slow it down. And he probably needed that to use the Shard. </span>
  <span>Watching a</span>
  <span>ll the near misses were never-wracking though and it took Kristina a moment to realize the fight was drawing nearer, only truly noticing when the Proto’s next unsuccessful swipe carrie</span>
  <span>d</span>
  <span> it over the threshold into the room.</span>
</p><p>The man wasn’t far behind, and with a wave towards the large button controlling the door-</p><p>Oh no.</p><p>The door started closing.</p><p>“What are you doing? You’re trapping us here!” she screeched.</p><p>“<span>I’m trapping </span><em>it</em><span> here,” he called, avoiding a swish of the spiky tail.</span></p><p>“<em>With us!</em><span>”</span></p><p>“Exactly,” he grinned as the door closed with a foreboding thud.</p><p>She could try to open it again, but that would mean going across the whole room to reach the button. Not that where she was happened to be safer. Nowhere in the same room with the Proto was even marginally approaching safe. She took a quick look around and decided to crouch behind some pipes. She couldn’t do much better in here.</p><p>But maybe her companion considered her sequestered away enough, because what commenced in front of her eyes would be hard to avoid out in the open. He let his flying weapon loose, make it circle and swerve jaggedly all around, aggravating the Proto with cuts, only to be shot by the man from another direction. At one point the Proto dodged the flying blade and jumped towards his attacker, only for the man to jump up higher than should be humanly possible to avoid it. Then with a wave of his hand propelled the Proto towards a wall when it made a visible indent.</p><p>
  <span>Even if she were to die here, even if she weren’t a fan of combat, she did have to admit that this battle was impressive. Not always easy to follow with her eyes, but nevertheless, something of the sort that surely couldn’t be claimed to have been seen by many people. She only hoped they would stay away from her, the claws and teeth and blades </span>
  <span>had already sliced off several metal handrails and scratched the floor thoroughly.</span>
</p><p>As she was watching – she thought she had imagined it at first – the Proto was tiring. So was the man, but the Proto… she had never seen it even remotely tired. Cuts and scrapes wouldn’t be easily seen on its body, but with so many of them, it didn’t require special attention to notice.</p><p>The man sported several bloody gashes and a torn pant leg. Still standing though, still fighting. Kristina had to believe he knew his own limits and wouldn’t drag it out too long before trying to used the Shard.</p><p>There wasn’t much more time to contemplate it though, as her luck had run out in terms of staying out of the way. The next time the Proto jumped and swiped down its claws, missing again, the slash went through the pipes beside her.</p><p>She screamed and dived to the side, her left arm on fire. She scrambled further away and a glance filled her view with wicked long teeth and salivating mouth, its stench stomach-turning in close proximity.</p><p>A kick to its side made the Proto roll over, yet it was on its feet in an instant, turning to its attacker, who was sweaty and tired from up close.</p><p>Kristina didn’t consciously decide for her body to move before she was seeing her own hands swinging a metal pipe over the Proto’s snout, preventing it from sinking its teeth into the man’s flesh. Then hit it again, not giving it a chance to compose itself. And again. Then it gave a shorter, louder growl that turned into a wail, which she interrupted by another hit to its muzzle. It dropped under that strike, rolling to the side with the Periapt Shard protruding from its belly.</p><p>Kristina hit the corpse again.</p><p>“Okay, it’s dead, you don’t need to-”</p><p>“I certainly do,” Kristina snarled with another strike.</p><p>“This bastard-”</p><p>Hit.</p><p>“-ruined my whole life-”</p><p>Hit.</p><p>“-so I am back to-”</p><p>Hit.</p><p>“-peer reviews-”</p><p>Hit.</p><p>“-and grant committees!”</p><p>Another hit, with all her might, and then she stood panting over the carcass, breathing hard.</p><p>Several seconds later, the man spoke up. “That’s some pent up aggression.”</p><p>“I’ve been walking on eggshells for decades to stay in Eckhardt’s favor,” she was boring holes into the corpse with her eyes. “If my time here is over,” she raised the pipe over her shoulder, “fuck this thing,” she hit the Proto’s head, “and <em>fuck Eckhardt</em>!” with the last hit, she actually heard a satisfying crack of its skull.</p><p>Now she was really tired though, and she flung the piece of metal on the floor, where it clattered to similar pipes, cut and slashed to pieces during the fight.</p><p>She took a few deep breaths, then remembered herself. She raised her head sharply. “Do you think anyone heard?”</p><p>The man snorted, shaking his head and then turned away, but she could still hear his laugh.</p><p>“I don’t know,” he said when he got himself under control. “But I thought you didn’t care about that anymore, considering,” he gestured vaguely to her, the Proto, the pipe.</p><p>“No, but I would rather be far away before anyone knows.” She frowned, another thought occuring to her, but couldn’t bring herself to worry too much after the latest fading adrenaline surge. There had just been too many in too short a time. “If you haven’t changed your mind and won’t just kill me now.”</p><p>The man raked his fingers through his sweaty hair. “I didn’t,” he grimaced, made a quick hand gesture and the disc that lay on the ground nearby. It rose up and glided leisurely back to him, then he hooked it to his belt. “And even if I did,” he crouched down to the Proto and tore out the Shard with a wet squelch, pocketing it, “you kinda saved my life with that first hit. Or at least prevented a pretty nasty wound. Kinda wouldn’t be fair,” he shrugged.</p><p>Oh, did she? Thinking back to the distressing moments now, it did appear that way. The Proto had been very close, and the man not quite moving quickly enough for once.</p><p>He had saved her from some nasty injuries, possible deaths during this blackout too, but she was hardly about to remind him of it, to call it even.</p><p>“Very well,” she nodded, and suddenly she felt so tired, she could just lie down on the hard floor and sleep off the adrenaline surges, metal-pipe swings and – well, her original sleep deprivation, but that was nothing new. She couldn’t stay here though. “I will take my leave then, the emergency exit is one hallway over, if you wish to use it too.”</p><p>“Yeah, sure,” he sighed, rolling his neck and shoulders. He could definitely use some rest too.</p><p>They walked out of the room in silence, but out in the hallway he spoke up again: “Just so you know, if I hear about you again, doing anything <em>unethical</em>, I’m gonna go after you. Seems like I’d be responsible for it, after this.”</p><p>“I will certainly lay low for a long time,” Kristina said evenly. “Eckhardt is still alive. And even if news reach me that you or someone else killed him, I will wait to make sure he isn’t merely feigning his death to strike later.”</p><p>“I just gotta stab him with all three Shards,” he said as if describing dicing a carrot, not fighting a centuries old mass-murderer, “I don’t have them on me, but I know where they are, so that’s a good first step, right?”</p><p>Kristina nodded. “I wish I could be there when you do it.”</p><p>“Wanna hit him with a steel pipe too?” He asked, amused.</p><p>Kristina let herself smile at the image. “I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but I would rather not be part of a similar battle ever again.”</p><p>Male voices started coming from ahead. Short shouts. Strong, commanding.</p><p>“Gunderson,” Kristina breathed out. “With the power back on, he must’ve seen the security cameras...”</p><p>“The Proto-Nephilim couldn’t get us, you think he can?” The man grinned. “What’s the other nearest way out?”</p><p>Kristina grinned too and turned sharply down another hallway, the Lux Veritatis right at her heels.</p>
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